76 Days, No Fossil Fuels: Costa Rica Has Been Running on Renewables for Over Two Months

In Brief

Largely due to its small size, Costa Rica has manage to run for two months relying solely on various sources of renewable energy. This success, though, isn't just due to the country's size. The government isn't at all lacking when it comes to serious effort in eliminating the use of fossil fuels.

Not the First Time

Last year, Costa Rica powered itself purely with renewable energy for 299 days total. This year, they already hit a total of 150 days — and counting!

Costa Rica deserves a clean (or green) bill of health! This Latin American country has proven, yet again, that it is possible to run on a mix of various sources of renewable energy.

Bulking up on Renewables

Of course, the country’s relatively small size helped, with the seasonal heavy rainfalls. But so did the four hydroelectric power facilities, which accounted for 80.27 % of the country’s total electricity last August. Geothermal plants that contributed roughly 12.62 %. Plus the wind turbines, with 7.1 %. Not to mention good ol’sunshine lending a hand with 0.01 %.

While it can be said that Costa Rica’s situation contributed to the ease with which the country transitions from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy, it did not lack in the effort and infrastructure to further the cause.

The Revantazón Project. Credits: ICE

In fact, the Latin American country is geared to pump up more renewable energy. A massive hydroelectric power plant is about to be completed — a project called Revantazón, under the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE). Zach Dyer of The Tico Timesreports that, with five turbines being built, the Revantazón project “will have a generating capacity of 305.5 MW, enough for an estimated 525,000 homes.”

It is the largest hydroelectric project in the region since the Panama Canal.

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